Hillary Clinton says it takes a village. But first the village has to eat. In my book, it takes a kitchen. Come and discover why food is part of everything we do, and just like romance, is most often enjoyed with and binds us to others. Along the way, I will tease you into discovering the science and philosophy that will help you seduce the lover, impress the boss, build the family and change the community. And we will probably get to share some recipes on this journey...

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Tasty Memories

One of my
most vivid food memories is my grandmother’s touké, a meat pie, essentially a
French Canadian pork pie, or tourtiere.The smell, the unique spices, the texture of the crust mixed with pork
fat, were like nothing else I ever ate…until recently.

A couple
years ago my grandmother passed after over 80 years of near flawless
health.It came as a surprise.And honestly, one of the saddest thoughts I
had at the time was that there might be no more touké.I know various family members made attempts
to replicate virtually the only thing she could cook, but nobody had been able
to nail it.Then one day last year I was
at a great falafel place, Falafel's
Drive-In, in San Jose.I had one of
my usuals, the kouby, among other things.But this time when I bit into the kouby, described on the menu as “a
middle-eastern meatball. It has a shell of cracked wheat that is stuffed with
ground beef, pine nuts, and onions,”
I had an epiphany.Some of the flavors
were identical to the touké.Maybe if I found a recipe for kouby I could adjust it, put it in a pie
crust and end up with touké.I put this
on my to-do list.Then last month I was
in Ottawa and walked through a bakery in the Byward Market and saw a tourtiere,
the French Canadian meat pie.I didn’t
get any but determined that I would make my own when I got home.

A few weeks
ago I did just that.I looked up Middle
Eastern kouby or koubeh recipes and a few tortiere recipes and then crafted my
own.When I added my seasonings to the
meat I knew I had something.The smell
was exactly as I remembered.As it all
cooked in its pastry shell the house filled with all the rights scents.At dinner, when I finally took a bite, I
wept.It was almost perfect.It was a taste I hadn’t experienced in
years.And now I knew how to keep my
grandmother with me always.

Meme’s Touké, or
French-Canadian-Lebanese Meat Pie

2 pounds of
ground beef

2 pounds
ground pork

1 large
white onion, minced

1 egg,
beaten

2 cloves of
garlic, minced

3 pie crusts
with tops

2
tablespoons of butter

1 teaspoon
each of:

Ground sage

Ground thyme

Coriander

Allspice

Cumin

Nutmeg

Salt

Pepper

¼ teaspoon
each of:

Ground cinnamon

Ground cloves

Directions:

-Saute the onions and garlic in butter until slightly
translucent

-Add all the meat and all the seasonings and cook thoroughly,
stirring often, crushing the meat into very small, minced pieces.

-Prep the pie tins with pie crust bottoms.

-Drain most of the liquefied fat from the meat, reserving
about three tablespoons.Leave that in
the meat and let it all cool for about ten minutes.

-Scoop meat filling into each of the pie shells, spread out
evenly.

-Top each pie with a top, brush with beaten egg and pierce
with a few vents/slits

-Bake pies for 45 minutes at 350 or until golden brown.

-Serve hot with a salad and a rich red wine or hoppy beer.

Additional variation, add a few tablespoons of toasted
ground pine nuts to the cooking meat and sprinkle some paprika on top of the
pie crust before cooking.And feel free
to alter the seasonings based on your individual tastes.These are unique and strong flavors.

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About Me

I am a native New Englander, but I have lived across the country and in Europe and now live in California. I am a father, husband and cook, a high school history teacher, avid cyclist, reluctant runner, and traveler.